The Lumbee Tribe, a native North Carolinian tribe, remains without federal recognition after a Trump campaign promise. Lumbees have long pursued recognition benefits, waiting over 137 years across multiple attempts at the federal level. The Trump administration applied new methods in January 2025 to secure recognition, sparking outrage among other tribes within the nation. Still though, ten months later the Lumbees still stand with no complete federal recognition, lacking the security and benefits that come with such recognition.

The Lumbee Tribe is made up of 55,000 members, virtually all of whom reside within the southern counties in central and eastern North Carolina. Lumbees self-identify as a collective of “Siouan, Algonquian and Iroquoian speaking tribes,” per their listed history. While the Lumbee collective has origins dating back to the 1880s, the individual tribes it is composed of cite their earliest documentation towards the early 18th century well before the U.S. solidified its status as an independent nation.

The Trump administration, promising the long sought-after recognition during the contested NC presidential vote, have slowed progress on the federal recognition since January. President Trump issued an executive order asking the Department of the Interior to make a plan to enact Lumbee federal recognition.

The Department of the Interior came back with less exciting news. The summary of the report, according to authorized individuals able to see it, is that Lumbees are recommended to “keep asking Congress,” the same dead-end rhetoric that has led to many failed bids for federal recognition in the past.

The Lumbee Tribe has campaigned for official recognition since 1888, where a petition fell short of funding by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. From 1889 and for the next 45 years, eight bills were introduced to Congress that failed to acquire funding. Finally, in 1956 Congress passed the Lumbee Act that recognized them as a tribe, but specifically prohibited their official federal recognition. The federal recognition would enable various benefits if granted, such as the creation of reservations and funding health care.

John Lowery, Lumbee chairman, has campaigned for federal recognition benefits since his induction to the position in early 2022. “The fact that we are still here centuries after colonial expansion, centuries after war and disease … should be celebrated,” Lowery told News and Observer in March of 2025. “We have very strong support from both sides of the aisle. At the end of the day, whether Democrat or Republican, individuals understand that this is an issue of fairness.”

Some Congressmen have recommended that the path forward for the Lumbees is to seek legislative approval rather than the traditional route, a plan that particularly finds support in the Senate. Lowery believes this would be “clear, concise, and unambiguous, and that’s exactly what we need.”

However, other federally recognized tribes have weighed in with concern for the Lumbees’ potential recognition. Of the 574 recognized tribes across the U.S., none have gone through the same legislative certification as the Lumbees and some view it as an illegitimate fast-track of the system.

“There’s a process that has been put in place, a process that we all have gone through and each…were able to prove who they were and their existence,” said Brad KillsCrow, chief of the Delaware Tribe of Indians. “Don’t try to take a back door and not do what everybody else has and then get federal recognition.”

The concerns from other Native American tribes, while contested in detail by Lumbee tribe members, aren’t baseless. The budget required for Lumbee federal recognition is approximately $350 million, which KillsCrow worries could siphon the budget away from smaller tribes who already have federal recognition.

Additionally, the unorthodox methods used to verify the Lumbee tribe as federally recognized could make it much easier for other tribes lacking proper history to get recognized, further dividing the budget and exploiting the system.

“It is a dangerous decision that will open up the floodgates to others wanting to do the same thing,” said Michell Hicks, chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

If the Trump administration’s executive order turns into action, the Lumbees will gain their long-sought federal recognition. This will open up a second, more accessible pathway for other tribes deemed illegitimate, such as tribes with no documented history. The administration has not commented on whether they had qualms with the standard ratification process.